State Worker, Detective Arrested

Both Men Charged With Seven Counts Of Computer Crime

February 21, 1992|By STEVE JENSEN; Courant Staff Writer

A private detective and a state welfare worker were arrested on felony computer-crime charges Thursday after state police received a tip that the welfare worker gave the detective confidential information from state computer files, police said.

The detective, Charles Sienkiewicz, 37, wanted the information to help him find people sought by his agency, Rimacon Detective Agency, on Silver Lane in East Hartford, police said.

The welfare worker, William Snyder, 36, is accused of supplying the detective with the information from a computer at the Manchester office of the state Department of Income Maintenance, police said.

Sienkiewicz, of 14 Mohawk Court, Cromwell, was arrested at his agency and later released on $10,000 bond.

Snyder, of 25 Hemlock Lane, Coventry, was arrested at the Broad Street, Manchester, office of the income maintenance department and later released on $20,000 bond.

Both men are charged with four counts of first-degree computer crime, two counts of second-degree computer crime and one count of third-degree computer crime. They are scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Manchester on March 10.

The maximum punishment on all charges would be 105 years in prison and a $55,000 fine.

Sgt. Dan Stebbins, a state police spokesman, said the charges stem from crimes that occurred last month.

"We received a tip from inside" the income maintenance department, Stebbins said.

Snyder, an 11-year employee with the department, processed applications for people seeking state assistance, said Billie Scruse-Lumpkin, a department spokeswoman.

Snyder has been placed on paid administrative leave pending disposition of the charges, she said. Scruse-Lumpkin said she did not know Snyder's yearly salary, but said the salary range for his position is $27,881 to $33,440